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Their cooking videos are great.

Some garden or back yard bivoaucing sounds like a great way to beat cabin fever!

We're glad you liked it. In our channel we try to cover material and techniques across the spectrum from the brand-new mainstreamer to the hardcore campaigner. A little something for everyone. Let us know if you end up with a video you'd like to see. We've had several viewer requested videos that we've made.

It was. We have more setups to come including how to use your rifles/bayonets for tent poles.

I don't think that's not necessarily the way that works. Only a fraction smaller than half of the force/unit is on gard duty which is a twenty four hour tour of duty. Other types of work such as fatigue duty and police duty will only happen when there is daylight. The remaining men that have no duty will probably put the shelter halfs in their possession together amongst themselves.

I've never seen it at an event and I think for that very reason. It's hard on the rifle and the bayonet. It also means you have to break camp anytime you need your rifle. It's pretty impractical for reenacting. We just did it, because we read about it, too.

I always do the single half

Great question. The average soldier was shorter then but they do a pretty good job. If someone is tall they may have to sleep at a different angle.

Check out the description in our how to make a shelter tent video. The instructions I used should help.

Joe Smith if it was kept very small yes. Just remember heat does rise and in some clubs and organizations they ma have a minimal safety distance of fires to canvas like ours does.

Company D 2nd USSS thank you

More of a reenactorism. Usually a blanket, ground cloth or even a coat was all they had to have a closed off end. Im sire if a third man could fit his half could be used as a closure.

Get wet. Lots of stories on that. Some soldiers complained that the only thing a shelter half was good for was filtering rain water.

"The Federal Civil War Shelter Half" by Gaede is a great source of information.

Benjamin Atkins if you live here in Washington State or fairly close, our website is 2ndusss.com. My email is on the home page and we can chat from there. Capt Whitehall

The Federal Civil War Shelter Tent by Frederick Gaede

Great question. The setups wouldn't really have been different, it's just that our expertise is with the Union army. The one thing the Confederate army used a lot more of and you rarely see at events is the fly tent. I think it was the Liberty Rifles who did a great write up on the fly tent. All these set ups came from studying period illustrations and photographs. You might find something cool studying rebel camp photos and illustrations.

Can't make a teepee sadly. The square/rectangle bodies of the shelter half doesn't have the right geometry to make a cone shape. However, you can make a pretty cool long dog tent that will sleep plenty of people in them, we call it a "shebangdominium".

Company D 2nd USSS Hi, Endurance room bushcraft and survival has erected a teepee using Russian Plash Palatkas poncho tarps which are about the same size as Civil war shelter halves which he's done by coupling them as diamonds (corners at a central pole). The other one he's done is a large teepee using long poles wigwam fashion with two large tarps. My guess is four of the shelter halves buttoned together into a huge square would work the same way. Siberian nomads also build huge teepees by this method and they live through very harsh winters.

Preston Albertsen shoot me an email at ethanbugs17@gmail.com

Just prefer to not post that on here but shoot me an email and I'll send it off to you.

K thanks

Makes sense

Company D 2nd USSS yeah u shouldn't post it we're everyone can see it

Same struggles as many other soldiers. They would have slept crossways or diagonally in their tents or added extra room by tying a gun blanket off the end giving about a foot and a half of extra room.

@@CompanyD2ndUSSS ah okay thanks! Im just getting into this and your videos are immensely helpful. Thank you!

Different times for different people. The people in the 1860s were much more accustomed to sleeping outdoors than we are today. However it did play into a factor in disease/injury or death playing into being exposed to the elements. As for sleeping in them after a 20 mile march... well having done them with full CW uniform and kit, I'd be happy just to lay down the the open or at least under a tree. I'd be quite happy to have a shelter half over me. These boys and men were a far harder breed than most of us today, not supermen, but pretty damned close!

Company D 2nd USSS it's fine to sleep in a tent like that if the weather is ok. but imagine that you are marching 20 miles in a cold rain a nd the temp is 40 f and your clothes , bedding and gear are soaking wet. and then you have to sleep in your soaking wet clothes and wet bedding. a nd it would be even worse if there was snow a nd wind. I camped with a modern supposedly waterproof tent and it leaks when it rains so how bad it would be sleeping in those kinds of civil war tents which are probably not waterproof. a nd they didn't have the kind of gear we have today

It would set the mood a bit better, you're right.

A Civil War veteran takes to the west to a new life, 1870 colorized